The Dreamer In The Tree
by Blake Nesbit
Summary: A request for herrdan on Reddit. While Yamato is stuck in the tree, he falls asleep and begins to dream of a fallen comrade. Also includes a mini-plot-element that I can't spoil because then you'd have no reason to read the story. Short and sweet. May be edited later if client is unsatisfied, but here's hoping he won't be.


Yamato didn't have much to do while stuck in a tree. So he decided to sleep. And sleep brought dreams...dreams of memories long-buried by his ANBU training.

Ten years before, he had been assigned to a team with three other shinobi-two chunin and a jonin-to carry out missions. He dreamt of the first day the team met up...

Yamato leaned up against a tree, waiting for someone to appear. He'd been waiting for quite a while, and he was starting to get starved for company.

Then, mercifully, someone appeared. A kunoichi with long, black hair and steely gray eyes landed gracefully on the road nearby. She was wearing what appeared to be a gray yukata with overlong sleeves, a graceful garment that contrasted with her regular ninja boots. Her legs were bandaged below the knee for reasons unknown.

"Yo." Yamato walked toward her. "You one of Team Eleven?"

The girl turned to him. "Yeah, I am." Her voice had a certain musical quality to it.

"I'm Yamato. What's your name?"

"My name?" She pretended to ponder for a moment. "Mayonaka Onkai Gakudan."

"Two surnames?"

"Nope. I don't actually have any. Mayonaka. _Ma-yo-na-ka_. That's my name. All it ever has been."

"It's a lovely name."

"Don't you be trying to butter me up."

"It's what I honestly believe."

"Hm. We'll see."

Then the next member of their company arrived. This one was a girl with an athletic form and short blonde hair. She had bracelets on each wrist, and wore a variation of the standard Stone Village shinobi outfit, in the colors of the Leaf Village instead of the Stone Village.

"Aw, crap! I wanted to be the first one here!" She snapped her fingers. "Damn."

"You've got a mouth."

"Thanks for noticing, Sherlock. You two Team Eleven?"

"Yeah. Yamato."

"Mayonaka. You?"

"Kika." She flushed a little as she said it.

"'Kika'? Is that 'Tree Flower' or 'Geometry'?"

"Ehh...doesn't help that I named myself."

"I'm sure there's a story there, but let's not get into that right now."

"Yes, please. We still need our fourth member."

"Oh, I've been here the entire time." They heard a book close and someone stand up.

They turned towards the voice. It belonged to a young woman, maybe twenty-two, with medium-length silver hair and brown eyes. She was holding a copy of _Make-Out Paradise_, which she put in her pouch when she noticed their eyes trailing towards it. "I've been here for a while."

"I don't think you have. I've been here for over an hour and I didn't see you anywhere."

"Well, I can already tell you pay attention." She held out a hand. "Kangai Hatake. I'm your jonin 'handler'. Basically, I'm supposed to keep an eye on you."

"Kangai. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise."

"Yep."

"Well, let's talk about how we fight. Yamato, why don't you start?"

"I use Wood Style for both offensive and defensive purposes, but I can also use Water and Earth Style."

"Interesting. Mayonaka?"

"I use sound-based genjutsu."

"And Kika?"

"I use barrier jutsu and geometry."

"So it _is_ 'geometry'."

"I said I don't want to talk about it."

"Fair enough. Come on, let's get started."

Two years went by without consequence. Then, one day...

Yamato had closed the team inside of a large wooden dome to protect against the driving rainstorm. Mayonaka was ashen-face, Kika was tight-lipped, and Yamato himself was having a hard time grasping the situation.

_What went wrong?_

Kangai lay prone on the ground, wheezing for breath, left arm mangled and a massive wound in that side of her body.

"I...I don't know what I can do. Her lung has been ruptured...and that's not all..."

"Try to heal her, Kika. Please, do what you can."

"...All right, I'll try." Kika wove a few quick signs. "Light Geometry: Tozansho." A pyramid of blue light formed around her and Kangai, and she set to work.

Yamato took this time to check up on Mayonaka. "You okay?"

Mayonaka looked at him. "How did our mission go so wrong? We were just supposed to help move the host of Shukaku..."

"No one expected bounty hunters to attack. I can't believe she survived a hit from the masked guy's wind attack..."

"Has she survived it, Yamato? She could still die."

"We can't think like that, Mayonaka. We don't know-"

"Exactly, Yamato. We don't know."

Kangai's good arm weakly scrabbled at the dirt. "Y...Yamato..."

Yamato quickly made his way to Kangai's side. "What is it?"

"I...In my bag...th...the book...I...I want you...t-to take it...to my brother..."

"Kangai, you can still-"

"No, I...can't...i-if we h-hadn't...had to run...from them...I-I could...have...b-but not n-now..." She gripped his hand. "Yamato...please...go...he's...he was all...I had..."

Yamato reluctantly acquiesced. "Goodbye, Kangai-sensei."

"Goodbye, Yamato."

Yamato stood up. "Mayonaka, Kika, I'm heading back to the Leaf. Just break the dome when you're ready to go."

"How?"

"Use Lightning Style."

"Okay. Be safe, Yamato."

"I will." He phased through the dome wall and hurried towards the Leaf.

He knocked on the door of the Hatake household with a heavy heart some time later. The door was answered by a young man with his headband pulled down over one eye and a mask. He seemed about to go out and do something. "Hello?"

"Kakashi Hatake?"

"Yeah, who's asking?"

"I'm Yamato. I belong to Team Eleven-"

"That's Kan's team."

"Yes, it is. I, ah..." Yamato dug the book out of his pack and handed it to Kakashi. "She wanted you to have this. It...it was her last wish."

Kakashi's head snapped up when Yamato said 'last wish'. "'Last wish'...so she's..."

Yamato nodded. "She was beyond saving. We tried our best...but it wasn't enough."

Kakashi stared at the book for a while. "Well, it was a dangerous mission. She knew full well what she was getting herself into." He looked up. "Did she at least die honorably?"

Yamato shook his head slightly. "Exsanguination because of a ruptured lung and shattered arm. We were ambushed, and she saved us."

"Then she did die honorably." Kakashi gripped the book tightly. "Thank you, Yamato. I'll see you again at her funeral."

_As the man dreamt in the tree, a single tear rolled down his cheek in memory of his fallen comrade._


End file.
